By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
DEC. 16, 2025 | The University of Georgia offers education in many fields, yet ever since its founding, it has not had its own medical school. That is about to change, as the final beam of the college’s medical education and research building was set in place in November.
The 93,000 square foot building on the Health Sciences Campus will serve as the primary educational building for the School of Medicine. Included in the design are large, active-learning classroom spaces, an anatomy lab, a simulation center, a clinical skills center, individual and group study options, a student lounge and well-being spaces. Nearly one-third of the building’s space will be dedicated to biomedical research. Completion of the building is scheduled for December 2026.
With the opening of its medical school, the University of Georgia will offer a complete doctor of medicine for the first time, making it a more comprehensive university.
This all started in 2007, with the recommendation of a UGA partnership with the Medical College of Georgia, citing a growing doctor shortage in the state. In 2008, the General Assembly invested $2.8 million to expand medical school capacity, and in 2009, the Board of Regents approved a medical partnership between UGA and Augusta University, where the medical college is housed.
In 2010, the first 40 medical students began studies at UGA. They would study there for two years before transferring to the Augusta campus of the Medical College in Augusta for their final two years, which would award them their degree. In 2021, the number of UGA medical students was capped out at 60 per class.
In 2023, a feasibility study concluded that UGA could support an independent medical school. In November 2024, the Board of Regents approved UGA granting a doctor of medicine degree!
In 2025, the General Assembly approved $50 million for design and construction of a medical school building in Athens, matched by institutional funds. Construction began in May 2025, and topping out was in November.
Today the University is awaiting hearing on its accreditation application, which is underway, and means that it can soon start accepting students for its initial class wholly trained in Athens.
That would give Georgia its second public medical school.
Meanwhile, the state has four private medical schools. They are Emory University School of Medicine, Mercer University School of Medicine, and Morehouse School of Medicine, plus the Osteopathic (DO) program at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Suwanee and Moultrie. These offer MD degrees, while PCOM Georgia offers a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, providing diverse options for medical training in the state.
Georgia ranks No. 8 as the most populous state, with 11 million people. Georgia currently ranks 39th in the nation for the number of active patient care physicians per capita and 41st for the number of public medical students per capita. At the same time, Georgia’s population is aging, as are its physicians, with about one-third nearing retirement age.
All of this has created a shortage of doctors in Georgia. It’s anticipated that when the new UGA medical college opens, it will help meet the shortages of medical doctors within the boundaries of the state.
So, hurrah and congratulations, President Jere Morehead. Soon UGA will be able to offer its own doctor of medicine degree!
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